Women's Basketball's Second Half Struggles Doom Ravens in 78-66 Loss to Stonehill in NCAA Tournament

Kara Charette goes for 19 points in first NCAA Tournament game

WALTHAM, Mass. (March 15, 2013) -- The Franklin Pierce University women's basketball team could not sustain its first half momentum in the second 20 minutes against Stonehill on Friday and the Ravens' 2012-13 season came to a tough end with a 78-66 loss to the Skyhawks in the first round of the NCAA Division II Tournament East Regional at the Dana Center in Waltham, Mass.

The seventh-seeded Ravens, who were making their sixth-consecutive appearance in the national tournament, capped their season with an 18-11 record, while the second-seeded Skyhawks improved to 24-4 and advanced to Saturday's second round where they will face third-seeded Dowling at 5 p.m.

Senior forward Amanda Saab (Windham, N.H.), playing in her final collegiate game, turned in the finest performance of her career despite the setback. She went for a career-high 24 points and eight rebounds, including 16 points in the first half which saw the Ravens take a 35-27 lead into the locker room at halftime.

However, the Ravens could not sustain the momentum and went cold shooting the basketball in the second half at a 28 percent clip (9-of-32). While Franklin Pierce struggled offensively, Stonehill got white hot, connecting on 56 percent of its attempts (14-of-25) and outscoring the Ravens 51-31.

Mary Louise Dixon netted 25 of her game-high 32 points in the second 20 minutes to spark the Skyhawks' attack.

Stonehill scored 11 of the half's first 13 points to take a 38-37 lead. Dixon buried a three moments later to make it 41-38, but Saab countered with a three-ball of her own at the other end of the court. The three kick-started a 9-0 run by the Ravens, aided by back-to-back layups from Caitlin Hopkins (Holtsville, N.Y.) and Brittany Martelle (Brookfield, Conn.) to take a 47-41 lead with 10:23 remaining.

However, that was the last surge for the Ravens as Stonehill turned it on from there. The Skyhawks countered with 10-consecutive points, sparked by back-to-back threes from Asia Ewing and Dixon, to take a four-point advantage with 8:46 to go.

The teams traded baskets, but Stonehill mounted another surge and a Dixon layup with 4:09 remaining staked the Skyhawks to a commanding 64-53 lead, as they would never look back in moving onto the second round.

Ewing followed Dixon with 19 points for Stonehill.

Stonehill also held a 40-34 rebounding advantage for the game, including a 21-14 count in the second half. 

The Ravens got out of the gates strong by scoring 10 of the game's first 12 points a little less than two minutes in. Saab and junior guard Kate McDonald (Fall River, Mass.) each drained a trey during the opening run, while freshman forward Kara Charette (Fairhaven, Mass.), who had 19 points in the game, added a layup. Charette tossed in another layup minutes later to give the Ravens to their first double-digit lead of the game at 15-5.

Franklin Pierce continued to keep its lead around the 10-point mark throughout the first half, including taking a 33-21 lead with 4:18 left until halftime following a pair of free throws from junior guard Brooke Coderre (Woonsocket, R.I.).

Stonehill, though, responded by scoring six of the final eight points in the stanza, including Ewing hitting a layup at the buzzer, to pull within eight at halftime.

For more information on Franklin Pierce women's basketball, please visit the team's page at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.) To follow the program even further, please visit Franklin Pierce Athletics on YouTube (www.youtube.com/FranklinPierceSports), Twitter (www.twitter.com/FPUathletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce women's basketball apparel can do so on the athletic department's online store at athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store(.)